Ophthalmic Assistant Trainee

Discover Vanderbilt University Medical Center: Located in Nashville, Tennessee, and operating at a global crossroads of teaching, discovery, and patient care, VUMC is a community of diverse individuals who come to work each day with the simple aim of changing the world. It is a place where your expertise will be valued, your knowledge expanded, and your abilities challenged. Vanderbilt Health recognizes that diversity is essential for excellence and innovation. We are committed to an inclusive environment where everyone has the chance to thrive and where your diversity of culture, thinking, learning, and leading is sought and celebrated. It is a place where employees know they are part of something that is bigger than themselves, take exceptional pride in their work and never settle for what was good enough yesterday. Vanderbilt’s mission is to advance health and wellness through preeminent programs in patient care, education, and research.

Organization:

Ophthalmic Assistant Program

Job Summary:

The Ophthalmic Assistant Trainee Program is an innovative on-the-job training program and will be 36 weeks in length (9 months). At the end of the program, you will be prepared to advance your career by becoming an Ophthalmic Assistant. As an Ophthalmic Assistant, you will perform basic ophthalmic work ups for new and return patients under regular guidance and provide general clinical support such as performing visual fields or other patient testing. You will learn to perform both basic and intermediate ophthalmic exam techniques including some specialized testing. All training will be based upon The International Joint Commission on Allied Health Personnel in Ophthalmology (IJCAHPO) Certified Ophthalmic Assistant (COA). IJCAHPO is the premier destination for Allied Ophthalmic Personnel (AOP) continuing education worldwide. The Ophthalmic Assistant (OPA) certification program is designed to recognize entry level assistants who have demonstrated the experience, knowledge and skills necessary to provide competent services.

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Ophthalmic Assistants are allied health care professionals that work alongside ophthalmologists to assist them with patient evaluations and with medical and surgical treatment of patients. They can work in private practice, medical centers, hospitals, and university clinics. The Ophthalmic Assisting Program curriculum is designed to prepare competent entry-level ophthalmic assistants in the cognitive (knowledge), psychomotor (skills), and affective (behavior) learning domains. Administrative duties include basic clerical functions, scheduling and receiving patients, preparing and maintaining medical records, handling telephone communication, processing and writing correspondence, and servicing as a liaison between the physician and other individuals.

Some of the duties Ophthalmic Assistants perform are:

• Taking health histories
• Testing vision
• Performing refractions
• Measuring eye pressure
• Performing imaging & diagnostic exams
• Educating patients

Working with the public and having a heart for service are requirements in the field of ophthalmic assisting.

The growth of the population and the move of health care delivery from acute care settings to outpatient settings such as physician’s offices and clinics have created an expanded job market for allied health care workers. This growth is expected to continue well into the twenty-first century.

Graduates of this program will be expected to take the International Joint Commission on Allied Health Personnel in Ophthalmology (IJCAHPO) Certified Ophthalmic Assistant certification examination upon graduation or within the first 120 days of graduation.

At the Vanderbilt Eye Institute, our team of ophthalmologists and optometrists treat a wide array of eye diseases that affect eye health and vision. We bring together research, education and clinical care to advance the treatment of eye diseases. Our team members collaborate with each other, as well as with experts in other medical disciplines, to provide patients with individual care that addresses their unique needs. We offer medical and support services with easy access locations throughout Middle Tennessee, so patients can receive care closer to them.

Start date is September 30, 2024.

Position Shift & Locations:

• 9 months to completion of the program.

• Training will take place on a flex schedule Monday-Friday during the 1st shift (between 7:00-4:30).

• Opportunity to work 32 hours per week to remain full-time. Upon successful completion of the program, participants could be assigned to work full-time, 40 hours per week, on any shift needed within the Vanderbilt System.

• Participant placement COULD include any day shift (between 7:00am – 5:00pm)

• Participant placement COULD include any VUMC facility of the Vanderbilt Eye Institute including the main campus or the Lebanon, Franklin, Hendersonville or Murfreesboro locations.

Movement

• Occasional: Sitting: Remaining in seated position
• Occasional: Lifting over 35 lbs: Raising and lowering objects from one level to another, includes upward pulling over 35 lbs, with help of coworkers or assistive device
• Occasional: Bending/Stooping: Trunk bending downward and forward by bending spine at waist requiring full use of lower extremities and back muscles
• Occasional: Balancing: Maintaining body equilibrium to prevent falling when walking, standing, crouching or maneuvering self, patient and equipment simultaneously while working in large and small spaces
• Occasional: Climbing: Ascending or descending stairs/ramps using feet and legs and/or hands and arms.
• Occasional: Kneeling:Bending legs at knees to come to rest on knee or knees.
• Occasional: Crouching/Squatting: Bending body downward and forward by bending legs and spine.Reaching above shoulders: Extending arms in any direction above shoulders.
• Occasional: Reaching above shoulders: Extending arms in any direction above shoulders.
• Occasional: Fingering: Picking, pinching, gripping, working primarily with fingers requiring fine manipulation.
• Frequent: Standing: Remaining on one's feet without moving.
• Frequent: Walking: Moving about on foot.
• Frequent: Lifting under 35 lbs: Raising and lowering objects under 35 lbs from one level to another
• Frequent: Carrying under 35 lbs: Transporting an object holding in hands, arms or shoulders, with help of coworkers or assistive device.
• Frequent: Push/Pull: Exerting force to move objects away from or toward.
• Frequent: Reaching below shoulders: Extending arms in any direction below shoulders.
• Frequent: Bimanual Dexterity: Requiring the use of both hands.
• Continuous: Handling: Seizing, holding, grasping, turning or otherwise working with hand or hands.

Sensory

• Continuous: Communication: Expressing or exchanging written/verbal/electronic information.
• Continuous: Auditory: Perceiving the variances of sounds, tones and pitches and able to focus on single source of auditory information
• Continuous: Vision: Clarity of near vision at 20 inches or less and far vision at 20 feet or more with depth perception, peripheral vision, color vision.
• Continuous: Smell: Ability to detect and identify odors.

Environmental Conditions

• Frequent: Chemicals and Gasses: Medications, cleaning chemicals, oxygen, other medical gases used in work area.
• Frequent: Pathogens: Risk of exposure to bloodborne pathogens and other contagious illnesses.

Allied health is among the fastest growing occupations in healthcare today. This area can be defined as credentialed professionals who perform supportive, diagnostic, and therapeutic health care services to promote health and prevent disease in a variety of settings.

These areas are crucial to Vanderbilt Health’s reputation for excellence in these areas that has made us a major center for patient referrals from throughout the Mid-South.

Each year, people throughout Tennessee and the southeast choose Vanderbilt Health for their health care because of our leadership in medical science and our dedication to treating patients with dignity and compassion.

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Core Accountabilities:

* Organizational Impact: Performs clearly defines tasks and methods described in detail to achieve standardized solutions that impact own performance with regular guidance. * Problem Solving/ Complexity of work: Follows a well established process to solve routine problems where solutions are clearly prescribed. * Breadth of Knowledge: Has basic job knowledge of systems and procedures that are common to own job. * Team Interaction: Individually contributes to the team.

Core Capabilities :

Delivering Excellent Services : Serves Others with Compassion: Invests time to understand the problems, needs of others and how to provide excellent service. Solves Complex Problems: Seeks to understand issues, solves routine problems, and raises proper concerns in a timely manner. Offers Meaningful Advice and Support: Listens carefully to understand the issues and provides accurate information and support. Ensuring High Quality : Performs Excellent Work: Checks work quality before delivery and asks relevant questions to meet quality standards. Ensures Continuous Improvement: Shows eagerness to learn new knowledge, technologies, tools or systems and displays willingness to go above and beyond. Fulfills Safety and Regulatory Requirements: Demonstrates basic knowledge of conditions that affect safety and reports unsafe conditions to the appropriate person or department. Managing Resources Effectively: Demonstrates Accountability: Takes responsibility for completing assigned activities and thinks beyond standard approaches to provide high-quality work/service. Stewards Organizational Resources: Displays understanding of how personal actions will impact departmental resources.Makes Data Driven Decisions: Uses accurate information and good decision making to consistently achieve results on time and without error. Fostering Innovation :Generates New Ideas: Willingly proposes/accepts ideas or initiatives that will impact day-to-day operations by offering suggestions to enhance them. - Applies Technology: Absorbs new technology quickly; understands when to utilize the appropriate tools and procedures to ensure proper course of action. - Adapts to Change: Embraces changes by keeping an open mind to changing plans and incorporates change instructions into own area of work.

Position Qualifications:

Responsibilities:

Certifications:

Work Experience:

Experience Level :

Education:

High School Diploma or GED

Vanderbilt Health recognizes that diversity is essential for excellence and innovation. We are committed to an inclusive environment where everyone has the chance to thrive and to the principles of equal opportunity and affirmative action. EOE/AA/Women/Minority/Vets/Disabled